Humans are often considered the most important or valuable species due to our mental and cognitive capabilities.

Only problem is… Humans are the ones doing the ranking!

 

Luckily, there have been differing schools of thought with regard to environmental ethics and the relationship between humans and other species.

Biocentrism vs. Anthropocentrism

Biocentrism: All life has inherent value; no one species or organism has more value than another

Anthropocentrism: Humans are the single most important entity in the universe

 

 

 

We live in a world and a society with deeply entrenched societal conventions, including the government, religion, economy, social class structure, food industry, etc; A world where it is easy to be convinced of many of the arguments of the anthropocentric school of thought. Some of those arguments may include:

• Humans are the most intelligent life forms on the planet
• Many other organisms do not have the capacity for emotion, do not have senses, etc.

These misconceptions can have serious consequences for animal populations!

Although human beings may have more cognitive capabilities, that doesn’t mean that human beings are more valuable to the earth!  Healthy biodiversity allows for ecosystems to thrive and benefit from each species’ role.

 

This is the biocentric argument. Within a working ecosystem, each species member has a vital role in the ecosystem’s health. Whether it is a special plant species at the bottom of the “food chain”, or an apex predator, each species has a role in the ecosystem, and the absence or introduction of a species can have drastic consequences. The below video illustrates the power of this phenomenon through what is called a trophic cascade.

 

 trophic cascade: an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food chain, which often results in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling. (source)

 

The absence of wolves and other top predators across the world can have drastic consequences to an ecosystem.

 

An even worse scenario is one in which major plant species are wiped out, leaving the entire foundation of an ecosystem to perish! This is a serious issue that is continuing to threaten many ecosystems due to the decreasing bee populations all over the world.These bee, and other pollinating species provide crucial nutrients to millions of plant species, without which many would die out. (source) (more detailed source) (you should probably just google bee extinction, there are plenty of articles to go around)

Bigger Issue!!! Humans Are No Longer a Member of an Ecosystem

As I mentioned earlier, modern civilizations and societies have often developed the ideology that humans are the most important/valuable species on Earth. However, the basis of this argument is our superior mental capabilities. Yet, with all of these superior mental capabilities, we have ceased to become a valuable member of an ecosystem, thus diminishing our value to the planet.

The human species is a detriment to the overall biodiversity and health of the planet! 

Selfish Nature of Humans

I have always been curious and have thought about the earth, humans, space, aliens, animals, and  more. My curiosity stems from the desire to learn more about the universe and the planet we inhabit, because as we all know from basic world history and science lessons, the human race hasn’t existed on the planet long on the scale of the Earth’s timeline:

If the earth’s history was condensed to a single year, humans would not exist until the year’s final hour! The first civilizations are not even created until only five minutes are left in the year!  (source)

 

This is a crazy thought, seeing as our human species has been counting the date in time based on how many years Jesus Christ has been alive. This point is beautifully illustrated by Louis CK through humor in his most recent stand-up comedy special:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzIb9C_UZOw

 

Not only are we not recording history based on the history of the Earth, but we are recording history based on a moment in a religion’s history! This point drives home the ideology that humans focus on; That Earth was here for humans to consume.

However, many philosophers and environmental activists have professed the biocentric view, one in particular through the manifestation of deep ecology.

Deep Ecology

Arne Naess, a Norwegian Philosopher, coined the term Deep Ecology in the 1970’s.

His argument was that all life has inherent value or worth, regardless of their usefulness to humans (essentially the biocentric world view.) Click here for a full breakdown of the foundations of deep ecology.

 

Final Thoughts

• Humans are a significant detriment to the health of the planet.
• We have severely overpopulated the planet, and by doing so displaced and caused the rapid extinction of many species; all within a minuscule fragment of the Earth’s history.
• The human race has ceased to contribute to an ecosystem in the way we originally evolved to.
• Humans mistreat other intelligent life on a consistent and grand scale, while social institutions and societal conventions are in place to perpetuate these atrocities

It always seems that at the end of each blog I write, I come to the conclusion that we need to abandon technology, civilization, and other advancements of our race in favor of a primitive lifestyle, one that is in harmony with the Earth and promotes biodiversity and planet health. (If you want to hear more of what I have to say about it, I wrote a paper on it!)

I know it kind of sounds crazy, and you aren’t seeing me running off into the jungle or woods, but I’ve never tried it so how can I knock it! Besides, I heard it’s not that bad… (source)

 

Hope you enjoyed it, or I hope it made you think!